A jury convicted two Pennsylvania men Thursday of a federal hate crime in the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant, finding they attacked the man primarily out of hatred for Hispanics.
An all-white jury in Scranton convicted Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky of violating the civil rights of 25-year-old Luis Ramirez, who died in July 2008 following a confrontation with a group of white high school football players in the former mining town of Shenandoah. The jury also convicted Donchak of two other counts related to a plot to cover up the beating.
Donchak, 20, sobbed as the verdict was read. Piekarsky, 18, put his head in his hands. Both were led away in handcuffs and ordered held behind bars pending their Jan. 24 sentencing. They could be sentenced to life in prison.
Crystal Dillman, who had two children with Ramirez, told The Associated Press she "couldn't be happier.''
"My family finally gets justice, well, some justice and Luis can finally rest a little bit easier in peace knowing that some justice was served,'' Dillman said. "It's like a burden's lifted off my chest to know that something was done for Luis.''
Prosecutors alleged that Donchak and Piekarsky beat and kicked Ramirez because they didn't like Hispanics and wanted them out of their town.
"They showed no remorse that night ... no sense of responsibility for having beaten a man to the point of death,'' Justice Department prosecutor Myesha Braden told jurors Wednesday in her closing argument.
